This article may contain affiliate links. We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this article.
We’re shifting gears today. Today we are going to talk about the business side of pet blogging. Last week, we hosted the first Pet Bloggers Retreat. Here is our story.
We will return to our regular puppy posts soon.
![Group Pet Bloggers Retreat 2023](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_auto,q_glossy,ret_img,w_770,h_462/https://puppyintraining.com/wp-content/uploads/superzoo-pbr-2023-770x462.jpg)
Mr. Peabody, what famous place are we going to this time?
Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to June 23, 2012, in Salt Lake City, Utah!
2012!
It was the first year that I attended the BlogPaws Conference. The same year, I also participated in the BarkWorld Expo.
These were pet blogging conferences that helped bloggers, influencers, and content creators learn from industry experts to help them grow their online businesses.
It was also a time to meet sponsors outside your network and build relationships for future projects.
These conferences were not only a great time to learn how to grow an online business, but they also gave everyone the opportunity to meet people they only knew on their computer screens.
The end of pet blogging conferences
I attended the BarkWorld Expo in Atlanta, Georgia in 2012. Their last conference that I know of was in 2016.
I last attended the BlogPaws conference in Phoenix, Arizona in 2016. The last BlogPaws conference was in 2018 in Kansas City, MO.
Fast forward 5 years…
Join the Pet Blogger Retreat 2023!
Pet Bloggers Retreat 2023
![Pet Bloggers Retreat 2023](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_auto,q_glossy,ret_img,w_700,h_467/https://puppyintraining.com/wp-content/uploads/pet-blogger-retreat-header-700x467.png)
In 2019, I had the chance to attend the Mediavine Conference in Austin, Texas. It was a great experience not unlike pet blogging conferences I’ve attended in the past.
The lectures and educational sessions were great, but the real value was in networking with other content creators. Talking and learning from other participants was worth its weight in gold.
Without a dedicated pet blogging conference, I wanted to create a smaller version of the Mediavine conference made up of a small group of professional bloggers, creators, and influencers in the pet niche.
The tipping point was when I published my 2023 Pet Blogger Journey posted and heard others were interested in an in-person pet blogging event.
We decided that the perfect time and place to host this retreat would be before the biggest pet retail event in North America, SuperZoo at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada!
![SuperZoo Badges](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_auto,q_glossy,ret_img,w_770,h_578/https://puppyintraining.com/wp-content/uploads/pbr2023-superzoo-badges-770x578.jpg)
To start
I don’t know if any of the attendees noticed this, but some of the gift cards I gave out had the following quote:
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
Step 1 – Book a location
My first step was to book the conference room. It’s funny how that first step really got the ball rolling.
Step 2 – Get help
Then I reached out to my good friend and blogging partner, Jessica from What did you do with your Weiner to see if she would co-host with me.
Check and check! Let’s go!
Oops, sorry, that was two steps.
Our sponsors
I have reached out to several companies that I have worked closely with over the past few years and they have put a lot of effort into helping cover the cost of PBR2023.
Please visit our sponsors:
powerful paw – A company dedicated to designing a full line of affordable, high-quality products that make things easier (and more fun) than ever with your pup.
Mediavine – helps content creators build sustainable businesses. From cutting-edge educational tools and plugins to advertising technology that maximizes revenue without slowing down your site, our drive is to grow your brand and business in every way.
Calmeroos – Calmeroos products are designed to appeal to your pet’s natural instincts by recreating the experience of snuggling up to mom and littermates when there was no care in the world! Your pet will feel comfortable and comforted when snuggled up next to Calmeroos!
Our attendees
- Conference room ☑
- Sponsors ☑
- Attendees ☐
We wanted to book the first Pet Bloggers Retreat for a small group and sent out personal invitations to our blogger network.
We were hoping to hold a fully live (in-person) event, but as always things change and we have decided to offer a virtual option as well.
We ended up with a group of 10 professional pet bloggers and content creators in our group: 6 in person and 4 virtual.
The Pet Bloggers Retreat is on!
Planning began in January 2023. However, the vision became a reality on August 14, 2023.
That’s the day I jumped in my car and screamed “VEGAS BABY!”
Well, not really…I was anxious, excited, nervous…pretty much all the emotions were there, so it was more of a soft whisper “Vegas baby”.
The good news is that I had helping hands waiting for me at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Our tech support, Larry (actually a good friend of mine who agreed to help me) and Jessica from YDWWYW.
With their help, we set up the conference room so it could stream virtually and made sure everything was running well before our first guests arrived.
![](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_auto,q_glossy,ret_img,w_600,h_800/https://puppyintraining.com/wp-content/uploads/pbr2023-welcome-bag.jpg)
Educational sessions
We had two in-depth educational sessions during the retreat:
- Advanced Affiliate Marketing – Sharing tips and tricks learned over the past 16 years as a blogger.
- After a complete overhaul of over 600 items. Share the why, how and results of the blog inventory.
![Summit gives kisses](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_auto,q_glossy,ret_img,w_770,h_462/https://puppyintraining.com/wp-content/uploads/pbr2023-summit-kiss-770x462.jpg)
Yes, I received some love and attention between Summit sessions 🙂
Speed sessions
Each participant had their own short “lightning” session.
The Lightning sessions gave each attendee fifteen minutes (10 minutes presentation, 5 minutes Q&A) to share their top tips for growing their business!
During our lightning sessions, we covered:
- How to build a community around your blog, build loyal readers who will share, promote and advertise your brand and blog to a wider audience. Covering the importance of building community the old-fashioned way, in person.
- Increase organic traffic using SEMRush. Discuss how to use SEMRush for its keyword research and more.
- Let’s discuss the Google EEAT algorithm, content pillars and how it increased organic search traffic to a newer website by 97% in 30 days.
- Sharing on growing social media presence, what worked, what didn’t, tips for growing and connecting with your audience and connecting with blog posts.
- The art of pivoting – how to stay relevant and make money. From social media to niche, multiple sources of income and owning your skills, share tips from your experiences as an influential animal blogger.
- Hit by the latest Google algorithm update. A discussion of what she is working on to bring back organic traffic and the challenges she faces.
- A discussion of how social media has helped businesses in unexpected ways.
- Talk about images and how they relate to page speed and SEO – understanding compression/sizing, new web formats, original photography versus stock images.
- After building a fantastic affiliate partnership, we shared how to increase stats with successful SEO. How, in less than three years, generated $1.3 million in sales.
- Work to improve mailing lists of over 65,000 email subscribers. Share what works, what doesn’t and challenges encountered.
![](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_auto,q_glossy,ret_img,w_770,h_462/https://puppyintraining.com/wp-content/uploads/pbr2023-SZ-tips-770x462.jpg)
Guest speaker
Our guest speaker Mediavine presented tips and tricks to increase ad revenue. The Mediavine team also reviewed our blogs and sent us tips on how we could improve our sites.
Networking and dinners
It’s been a long time since we (pet bloggers) met in person as a group. It was wonderful to see some of the faces I’ve only seen on my laptop screen for the past few years.
We had a great time chatting and eating at different restaurants in Mandalay Bay.
![PBR Dinner 2023](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_auto,q_glossy,ret_img,w_770,h_578/https://puppyintraining.com/wp-content/uploads/pbr2023-dinner-770x578.jpg)
The results
THE Pet Bloggers Retreat 2023 it was a lot of work, a lot of planning, a lot of organization and a lot of fun.
I’m so glad we were able to come together and collaborate ahead of SuperZoo 2023.
I had a great time and early feedback from other attendees was that they also had a great time learning and collaborating.
Do we start again in 2024?
Maybe…
Would you be interested in attending a retreat for pet content creators?
Best choices for our puppies
- BEST PUPPY TOY
We like: Calmeroos Puppy Toy with Heartbeats and Heat Packs – Perfect for new puppies. Helps relieve anxiety in their new home. - BEST CHEW FOR DOGS
We like: Mighty Paw Naturals Bully Sticks – All of our puppies love biting, nipping and chewing. We like to use Bully Sticks to help deflect these unwanted behaviors. - BEST TREATS FOR DOGS
We like: Crazy Dog Train-Me Treats – We use these as high value treats for our guide dog puppies. - BEST FRESH FOOD FOR DOGS
We like: The farmer’s dog – A few months ago we started giving Raven fresh dog food and she loves it! Get 50% off your first order from The Farmer’s Dog.
Check out more of our favorites on our Checklist for new puppies.